Raspberry Custard Creams

Despite the belief that my two-month-old is advanced for her age, she’s not yet at the point of buying me a Mother’s Day gift for being the devoted mother that I am. In lieu of this, I baked myself a batch of Raspberry Custard Creams.

Inspired by the Custard Cookie recipe that I shared on Instagram a few days ago (which proved to be incredibly popular based on the amount of saves it received), I wanted to upgrade it into a recipe perfect for Mother’s Day. I also needed to make use of a handful of frozen crushed raspberries, so that’s how Raspberry Custard Creams came to be.

Raspberry Custard Creams

I think these might be my new favourite cookies. They’re also particularly good with a comforting cup of tea when you need 15 minutes to yourself,

Custard Cookies

1 cup all-purpose flour + 1 tbsp extra for dusting
1/2 cup custard powder
1/2 cup icing sugar
1/2 tsp salt
180g butter, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg yolk

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C degrees.
2. Place the flour, custard powder, icing sugar, and salt in a large bowl and whisk to remove any lumps.
3. Add the butter to the bowl and using an electric hand mixer on low, combine with the flour mixture until it resembles breadcrumbs.
4. Add the vanilla extract and the egg yolk, and continue mixing until it begins to form a dough. If you’re struggling to bring it together, put the hand mixer aside and use your hands.
5. Turn the oven down to 160°C and line two baking trays.
6. Tear off small pieces of the dough, around 15g each, and roll into balls.
7. Place the balls on baking trays, around 4cm apart.
8. Dip a fork into the extra flour and use it to make slight indents on each of the dough balls.
9. Bake for about 25 minutes, then remove from the oven and allow to stand for about 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack, as they are a bit fragile when warm.
10. Allow to cool completely before sandwiching together using the Raspberry Buttercream.

Raspberry Buttercream

1 cup frozen raspberries, thawed
115g butter, softened
2 cups icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Mash the thawed raspberries and strain through a sieve over a bowl to separate the juice and pulp, reserving 4 tablespoons of the juice (the raspberry pulp is quite delicious stirred through yoghurt).
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or in a large mixing bowl if using a hand mixer, add the butter and whip until light and smooth.
3. Add the icing sugar and mix for about 2 minutes until combined.
4. Add the raspberry juice and vanilla extract, and mix until fully combined and the buttercream is nice and pink.
5. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with the star nozzle.

Assembly

• Divide the cooled cookies into pairs, preferably matching so the edges of each one align when sandwiched together,
• Pipe a small amount of buttercream on one half and gently sandwich together with the other half. Do not overfill as when you push the cookies together the buttercream might end up overflowing,
• Set all the cookie sandwiches aside to allow the buttercream to harden slightly before serving or storing.